A BELGIAN CONTRIBUTION TO MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION IN ESPÍRITO SANTO

Abstract

The Ginásios Polivalentes Schools, created in the 1970s, presented an innovative school proposal, aligned with Modern Mathematics’ principles. Specific training was required to teach in such schools, using Georges Papy’s Mathématique Moderne collection as a didactic reference. In Espírito Santo, José Merigueti and Nelson Luiz Piôto D’Ávila published the Coleção Matemática Orgânica, a series of textbooks for use by Polyvalent students. As it was a school project that broke with the current archetype, compatible training with the new mathematics that would be taught was to be expected. In this sense, this article aims to investigate similarities and differences between modernist pedagogical proposals in works intended for teacher training, as well as productions intended for school use in new Gymnasiums. Characteristics of the approaches prescribed for natural numbers and integers numbers were analysed and compared. We argue that the Espírito Santo collection is not a simple translation of the belgian books. Modern Mathematics assumed its own features in Espírito Santo. Although innovative principles were present in both collections, the path taken is similar for natural numbers and very different when presenting integer numbers.